Sam Deconinck
Sam Deconinck
Deputy Lab Manager, OWS
Talk TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018
The Bio-end-of-life of PLA: Beyond Industrial Composting
Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely-used bioplastics in the world and especially interesting for non-durable applications such as food packaging. As a compostable polymer, it adds environmental advantages to those products where biodegradability offers an asset. The PLA currently on the market, however, is only biodegradable under industrial composting conditions and not readily degradable in home composting due to PLA’s requirement for an elevated temperature (50-55°C) to start the first hydrolysis step. This temperature is easily reached during industrial composting since it is also required for hygienization, but is not reached during home composting. Compostable products, however, are rarely produced using one single polymer and are mostly a combination of different polymers. As a result, it makes sense to study the biodegradation behavior of PLA blends to identify a possible synergistic (or antagonistic) effect under home composting conditions. Research performed as part of the European project Synpol showed that while PLA on its own does not biodegrade under home composting conditions, PLA, when blended with polycaprolactone (PCL) in a 80:20 ratio, is home compostable. This synergistic effect, however, does not occur for all combinations of polymers.
The second part of the presentation will address anaerobic digestion (AD), another bio-end-of-life option for PLA, which is receiving increased attention and is becoming more and more important in the (bio)waste industry. PLA, on its own, as well as blended with other biopolymers, has been tested for biodegradation under thermophilic anaerobic digestion conditions showing indications of, at least, partial biodegradation.
About Sam Deconinck
Sam Deconinck obtained a Masters degree in Bioscience Engineering with a specialization in Environmental Technology in 2005 at the State University of Ghent in Belgium. After being responsible for the planning, follow-up and reporting of biodegradability and compostability testing for a couple of years, Sam became head of the Marketing and Sales team in 2009 and is since responsible for providing customers with tailored advise on biodegradability and compostability testing and certification. He represents OWS in several expert committees both in Europe, US and on international level. Since 2017, Sam holds the position of Deputy Lab Manager.
Don’t just take our word for it
I strongly recommend Innovation Takes Root. It's a good opportunity to understand and see what happens in this area of biopolymers. It's an international event and not just on PLA. I think it's well done, well-managed, and well-organized. It was a good investment for me.
Innovation Expert - Polymers, Electrolux
I'd definitely come back (to ITR) and recommend it. I think many different industries could learn something from a conference like this - it really is focused on the next level of sustainability.
Vice President, Titan Robotics
It has been a wonderful event; very well organized. I especially appreciate the scheduling of activities, the alternation of speeches, and time to network, which has been one of the key successes from my point of view. We also felt very supported by your team; we had the feeling you believe in what Flo is doing and, for us, that's very important.
Operations Director, Flo S.p.A.